Herbert Hainer, president of German heavyweights Bayern Munich, has on Friday provided an insight into the club’s failed summer move for West Ham United star Declan Rice.
The subject of deep-lying midfield reinforcements, of course, took its place front and centre in the headlines at the Allianz Arena ahead of the new season.
This came as Thomas Tuchel made clear his desire for fresh blood in the middle of the park.
A whole host of names, in turn, were tipped as potential arrivals in Munich, with Fulham standout Joao Palhinha having even gone as far as to undertake a medical with the Bundesliga champions.
Another front-running target, at one point, though, came in the form of the aforementioned Rice.
England international Rice ultimately made the short move across London from West Ham to Arsenal during the summer, but this only came after he had been identified as the ideal addition by Bayern earlier in the window.
Speaking to the media on Friday, club president Herbert Hainer was therefore drawn on exactly what culminated in the Bavarians’ pursuit of the 24-year-old coming up short.
And the German went on to reveal that financial constraints proved the deciding factor, as Bayern instead opted to utilise the bulk of their budget on another Englishman, Harry Kane.
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